Hi. I'm new.

[whoisalhedges]

And I'm sure the Lounge is a more appropriate place for an introductory post, but I'm equally sure this forum gets more views, and I certainly hope to get to know some of you brilliant people better.

I'm fairly new to the DIY game. It started when I got laid off - all of a sudden I couldn't pay other people to fix my gear anymore, had to pick up the iron myself. Then things got worse, ended up selling my gear.

Last Xmas, a buddy gave me a guitar and amp. Good friend! Anyway, I still didn't have any FX. So, I began reading over at GEO and AMZ, a few other places, diystompboxes.com... I learned as much as I could before I started building.

Now that I'm back working, most of my free income is going to my new obsession hobby. I breadboard like mad, I've tackled most of the common drive circuits (I'm still a raw newbie at modulation - I'd love a delay and a tremolo, but I have a real hard time building what I don't understand) and have built three of my own designs: a 2-transistor Big Muff (Muff Fuzz topology with the BMP feedback network on the second transistor, and a bridged-T filter to evoke the classic Muff scoop), a JFET+BJT overdrive voiced like early '70s Stones and Faces records, and an insane ring modulator that feeds the guitar signal into the diode bride, modulating itself - depending upon how hard one hits the strings (and the resulting harmonic content of the signal), it'll hop up or down an octave or two, oscillate madly, and occasionally be playable just by twiddling the volume and tone knobs on the guitar. The overdrive is the most boring, but it might be my favorite (it's also the newest, which certainly helps in the favoritism department).

Anyway, nice to meet you all; and it's my pleasure to see so many names I've come to recognize in my research. I'm looking forward to having some fun here.

[Jdansti]

Welcome! Looking forward to seeing some of your work. If you ever want feedback on which x, y, or z type of pedal to build next, just ask. There are plenty of options and the folks who've already been there can give you the pros and cons of each as well as building and trouble shooting advice. 

[GibsonGM]

Hi "Who", welcome aboard!  Glad to hear that you have the addiction, too, ha ha!   I'm sure we'll hear more from you as you start throwing circuits together.  The more you learn, the more there is to ask about  
Enjoy yourself here!

[whoisalhedges]

If you ever want feedback on which x, y, or z type of pedal to build next, just ask. There are plenty of options and the folks who've already been there can give you the pros and cons of each as well as building and trouble shooting advice. 

Oh, I've got loads of ideas where to go next, the biggest problem is self-editing. I'm a bit too ambitious for my own good.

As I mentioned, I really want to build a nice tape-style delay (I picked up a couple PT2399s) and a tremolo, maybe switchable to a proper vibrato - but I just don't "get" LFOs yet. I do have a couple 40106s, maybe I can work something out with Schmitt triggers.

Thanks for the welcomes!

[Jdansti]

As for a delay, Deadastronaut's Abductor II (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=110419.0) is pretty nice. It simulates a 4 head tape delay and it has an LFO which when engaged, provides some other nice effects. He has a good demo at the link above. The knobs labeled I, II, III, and IV are associated with each of the four PT2399s.  This is a pretty large build, but he had some reasonably priced boards made up for it that make it go pretty smooth.

Regarding LFOs, I'm still learning about them myself. I know what they do, but I don't have a lot of knowledge about what makes them tick. I've only used 555 timers as LFOs in my own designs, but they can cause audible ticking in a stompbox which is difficult to eliminate.

[thermionix]

a JFET+BJT overdrive voiced like early '70s Stones and Faces records

Howdy and welcome!  I'm pretty new here myself.  I love the Stones and Faces, two of my absolute favorites, very interested to see (hear?) what you've come up with!

[whoisalhedges]

Regarding LFOs, I'm still learning about them myself. I know what they do, but I don't have a lot of knowledge about what makes them tick. I've only used 555 timers as LFOs in my own designs, but they can cause audible ticking in a stompbox which is difficult to eliminate.

I've actually considered taking a page from modular synthesis and building an outboard LFO box that can control multiple pedals: that way the timer's clicks are isolated and multiple pedals can be synched.

More than anything what I don't understand is the switching. I guess I get LDRs, but using a JFET as a switch is thus far beyond me. Having an external "CV in" that could give variable resistance based upon an LFO or an envelope follower would be cool for various designs, but I haven't figured it out yet.

I've also had a hell of a time getting op amps to work, even though I have a 741 in my ring mod (a pretty confusing build that never worked as intended, but instead did much more interesting things than I'd ever anticipated, so I stuck with it).

Basically, I'm pretty solid on resistors, capacitors, and BJTs as amplifiers. 

a JFET+BJT overdrive voiced like early '70s Stones and Faces records

Howdy and welcome!  I'm pretty new here myself.  I love the Stones and Faces, two of my absolute favorites, very interested to see (hear?) what you've come up with!

I mess around with loads of experimental/avant-garde/post-rock sounds... but at the same time, I've long thought this was pretty much the pinnacle of rock guitar tone. So it's what I aimed for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOPJXrUWII

[duck_arse]

let me be the first (of probably quite a few) to say - "show us the circuit for the ring, thing, please". also, hello, and play with some single transistor phase shift oscillators, they're plenty fun and dead easy.

[whoisalhedges]

I suppose I could share the occasional schematic... 

Will feel a little more confident once it's more consistent - I can breadboard it almost from memory, haven't gotten it to work (well, I did once) on vero yet.

[Marcos - Munky]

Hey. Welcome, and hope you have lots of fun. The guys here are the best, you'll get lots of help here.